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Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Mexican inspired chicken soup and a tart for dessert!

Doesn't that look amazing? All crispy and crunchy with fresh blackberries scattered around!

Well the school year is almost over and I have absolutely no idea where the time has gone. As of Friday my days are no longer my own. For the rest of this week they are on a half day schedule so I am suppose to pick them up at noon (wonder what happens if I don't???). I guess this is their subtle way of easing us into the summer. Only half days this week and nothing at all next week and for the next 10 weeks. I guess it's better than going cold turkey!!! I have my oldest daughter in for a couple of weeks of day camp but the youngest one will be with me ALL SUMMER long...10 whole weeks...2 and 1/2 months...OMG!!!

Anyway yesterday morning I was looking in my fridge trying to decide what was for dinner and about the only thing that wasn't a condiment was a chicken carcass from roast chicken the week before. I pulled the remaining meat of the bones and threw it in a pot of water. I added some onion, garlic, and fresh cilantro and let it simmer away all day. When T. got home and I was at skating and karate he strained the bones from the soup added the chopped up chicken and cooked some rice. I had made pico de gallo earlier so a nice simple dinner was born!

I had also made a Lemon Blackberry Tart that I had seen on Nikki's blog at Canarygirl.com. She always has so many great recipes but this was one I had been really wanting to try. We always have berries and lemons here and it was incredibly simple to throw together! The tart crust is one I will use over and over again for the ease of preparation and the final result!

First and foremost, set your blackberries in a sieve over a bowl to drain.Now, start the crust.Preheat your oven to 300ºF/150ºC.Add flour, powdered sugar and butter to your food processor and pulse until it comes together in a dough.Press the dough into a tart pan, using your hands and fingers to spread the dough evenly.Parbake the dough about 20 minutes.Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.Raise oven temperature to 350ºF/175ºC.While cooling, combine the filling ingredients.Beat eggs first, then add remaining ingredients, except blackberries, whisking well to combine.Pour filling into tart shell, and then arrange blackberries in filling.Bake about 25 minutes, or until set.Garnish with powdered sugar if desired.

This tart was thrown together in about an hour and everyone loved it. This is one I will definitely try again...different berry combinations would be great too!

That is one yummy-looking tart! Lemon and blackberry are so nice together. And quite resourceful on the soup. The times I've done that, the bone-picking has taken forever, so blue ribbon to you for your persistence.